Blue Dog Democrats Ramp Up Fund-Raising for 2012 Election

After nearly half the coalition was wiped out in the 2010 elections, Blue Dog Democrats are becoming more and more of an endangered species. Just 25 Blue Dogs remain in office. But if money is any indication, those Blue Dogs that remain appear ready to put up a tough fight in 2012.

Collectively, the 23 Blue Dog Democrats seeking re-election in 2012 raised $8.4 million through the first two quarters of 2011, research from the Center for Responsive Politics shows. That’s about $1.05 million more than those same 23 politicians raised between January and June in 2009.

Additionally, 14 of these 23 Blue Dogs have raised more at this point in the 2012 election cycle than they had at the same point during the 2010 cycle for their individual campaign war chests.

Increasing his haul by the most is Rep. Ben Chandler (D-Ky.), who brought in about $308,000 more so far this election cycle than he did two years ago.

Chandler faced one of the toughest re-election bids in the country in 2010, and won by only a few hundred votes. (His GOP opponent didn’t concede until 10 days after the election.)

“Although we had yet another strong quarter of fund-raising, my focus is and will continue to be to protect Medicare and Social Security for Central Kentuckians,” Chandler said in a statement on July 15. “Politically, my focus and the focus of every Democrat should be on the governor’s race right now.”

Chandler’s press office provided this statement to OpenSecrets Blog when asked if he had changed or ramped up his fund-raising strategies this cycle given the close race in 2010. The office declined to provide any further comment for this article.

The fund-raising haul of Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.) so far in 2011 also tops his fund-raising at this point in 2009 by more than $300,000.

“It takes a lot of hard work to raise money and run a campaign,” Michael Andel, a spokesman for Scott, told OpenSecrets Blog in an email. “He has the same fund-raising strategy of every successful candidate: raise most of the money early. He runs his own race and focuses on his own district. He has done this every other year since 1974.“

Second-quarter fund-raising also proved to be more lucrative for most Blue Dog Democrats than the first quarter, according to the Center’s research.

On average, the 23 Blue Dogs seeking re-election raised $1.44 million more during than second quarter than during the first, the Center’s research shows.

Two Blue Dogs — Reps. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) — are not seeking re-election in the House. Boren has announced that he is retiring at the end of the 112th Congress next year, and Donnelly is running for a U.S. Senate seat instead.

Of the money raised by these 23 Democrats through the second quarter, 40 percent came from individuals, and the rest came from political action committees.

The following seven Blue Dogs raised less than 25 percent of their funds from individuals:

and Rep. Jim Matheson (Utah) saw 88 percent of his donations come in from PACs.

Meanwhile, three Blue Dog Democrats brought in more than 50 percent of their contributions from individuals:

Rep. Jim Cooper (Tenn.), who brought in 75 percent of his $400,000 from individuals;

Rep. Loretta Sanchez (Calif.), who brought in 56 percent of her $303,000 from individuals;

and Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas), who brought in 62 percent of his $351,000 from individuals.

Heading into the 2012 election, it’s hard to predict what will happen to the already endangered Blue Dogs, Donald Beachler, a professor of political science at Ithaca College who specializes in congressional elections, told OpenSecrets Blog.

As elections become more nationalized, he said, it is harder for the conservative Democrats to disassociate themselves from more liberal party names. Many of the defeated Blue Dogs were also sitting in what had become heavy Republican districts, he continued. And some of them had even voted largely along conservative lines, voting against Obama’s stimulus plan, the cap-and-trade energy bill and the health care reform legislation.

“It’s tougher for them when Republicans are really fired up and Democrats are dispirited,” Beachler told OpenSecrets Blog. “And that’s what happened in 2010.”

Jeffrey Stonecash, a professor of political science at Syracuse University, told OpenSecrets Blog that because the electoral climate is so volatile right now, it’s impossible to say what might happen to Blue Dogs in the next election.

Many Blue Dogs who were voted into office in 2006 or 2008 won seats because of hostility toward Republicans stemming from President George W. Bush’s policies and the weak economy, he said. In 2010, many lost seats because of anger toward the Democrats. And it’s hard to predict the Blue Dogs’ fate in 2012, as both parties face criticism on a variety of issues.

But Blue Dogs, like all politicians, do know one thing, Stonecash said, and that’s the value of money.

“They all know there is one simple answer,” he said. “Raise as much money as you can, so you can get your message out.”

Here is a table showing these 23 Blue Dog’s fund-raising hauls so far this year, along with a comparison to how much they raised during the same period of 2009:

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